The Revierderby: Schalke vs. Borussia Dortmund

As we mentioned last week, the first few weeks of the Bundesliga season have seen some surprising results, creating a table that looks like its been tossed on its head.  That trend continued this weekend when Borussia Dortmund beat Schalke 3-1 for the first time since 2007 in their local derby.  The 4th straight loss for Schalke landed them at the bottom of the table as the only club with 0 points and marked the club’s wost ever start in the league.  Unfortunately, many of Dortmund’s fans missed seeing the win, instead choosing not to attend the game in protest of high ticket prices set by Schalke…

The game was dominated by Dortmund from the beginning – and Schalke are lucky to have only conceded 3 goals in the game.  The win will undoubtedly reassure Dortmund fans were concerned after losing 3-1 away to Stuttgart matchday 2.  Luckily, the defensive errors present on that day appeared to have been somewhat addressed in the past two weeks.  And today, the club’s supporters were rewarded with a brilliant team win that saw the first two goals scored by Shinji Kagawa and third by Robert Lewandowski.

With the wins over Schalke this weekend and Wolfsburg last weekend, Dortmund have momentum, climbing all the way into 3rd place in the table with 9 points.

Given the four losses Schalke have accumulated this season – arguably they too have momentum.  Unfortunately it is towards the opposite end of the table as they sit dead last with 12 points before the league’s leaders, Mainz.  In a game best described by Schalke’s coach, Felix Magath, as his “worst day” while in charge – the players looked timid, unfocused and unsure of what to do.  It’s a surprising assessment for a team made up of experienced players such as Raul, Huntelaar and Metzelder who have graced the fields for huge clubs such as Real Madrid and AC Milan.  After a dreadful start in which they conceded a goal in the first 20 minutes of the match as well as in the opening minutes of the second half, Schalke were unable to turn things around.  Shortly after the second goal was scored in the 58′ – things went from bad to worse as they went down to 10 men.  Nicolas Piestan was shown a red in the 61 minute after seeing his second yellow within five minutes.

Magath has attributed the team’s lack of confidence to the string of losses…

I have never seen a team like this.  The troops are totally insecure. These defeats have left their mark.

These may seem like strong words, but the statistics reveals that he is not likely to be exaggerating.  Schalke only had 1 shot out of 8  on target and 4 corner kicks – demonstrating their failure to put any serious pressure on the Dortmund defense.  Borussia managed to get 11 of their 23 shots on target and successfully pressed for 10 corner kicks.  In fact the only statistic Schalke seems to have won this weekend is possession – which arguably makes their performance (in light of enjoying 56% of the ball) even less impressive.

The lack of cohesion on the field has many questioning the transfers made this summer at Schalke, with defenders and midfield replacements overlooked for hyped star strikers.  And the Dortmund manager, Hans-Joachim Watzke, took this victory as an opportunity to share his opinion on Shalke’s financial decisions this summer…

The club who spends the most money is not automatically the one who wins the league in the end.  We have neither sold any important players, nor worked up any debts.

We have a team which is growing and a philosophy which we are 1000% convinced about. I don’t have any sympathy (for Schalke) at all.”

If there is one morsel of hope for Schalke fans to hold onto – its the performance of their keeper, Manuel Neuer. If not for him, Schalke could have lost by double digits.  He made 8 saves, trying to salvage some of his team’s pride.  And while some Dortmund fans may criticize their sides inability to convert all their chances, I prefer to give credit to an outstanding performance by Neuer who seemed to be the only Schalke player on the pitch who came to play a derby.

In addition to Schalke’s performance, another dark cloud lingered over the fixture:  a boycott by Dortmund fans.  The Guardian reports that 1,604 of Dortmund’s supporters returned their match ticket in protest of a 50% price hike, making this the first derby between these two teams to not sell out in decades.

Final Score:  Shalke 1 – 3 Borussia Dortmund

Schalke: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (89′)

Borussia Dortmund: Shinji Kagawa (20′, 58′), Robert Lewandowski (86′)

To get the play by play – visit The Offside- Schalke (post-match review here) and Borussia Dortmund (post-Match review here)  blogs.

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Category: Bundesliga